Star Ocean: The Fifth Act
by Haos Serpent Blade-Azure Fang
Summary: Millennia after the end of Star Ocean: Til the End of Time, comes the story of a ragtag group of hero's forced to save the universe from an evil that prepates the Epiphanies of Guidance and the 4D beings. Will this bunch succeed like the heroes before the? Or will they become the instruments of its destruction?
1. The Beginning

A/N: Hello and welcome to my story about Star Ocean. This takes place long after Star Ocean: Til the End of Time, so the story's setting is outside of the Eternal Sphere. I won't give much away, but this may become a Persona crossover story. Note: Language and Suggestive themes will be present in most of the story, particularly because of Reyna, who is a chronic swearer. I hope you enjoy the first chapter.

* * *

**One: The Beginning**

* * *

_The Pangalactic Federation knew about it before it happened. They could not deny the signs of the meteor falling towards Hyperia VI, nor the disastrous effects it would have on the planet once it hit. The federation made the decision to withhold this information from the inhabitants of the doomed planet to prevent them from dying in fear. Their plan worked._

_Nearly a month had passed when the meteor struck, devastating the planet's surface and polluting the atmosphere with toxic fumes. Billions of lives were claimed by this 'error in calculations' by the PGF and the few survivors demanded compensation for their losses. These demands were not met and so began the riots._

_Millions were outraged at the PGF's decision and began to protest. These nonviolent protest quickly turned into civil riots as the PGF continued to deny the former Hyperians their compensation. Soon these riots were suppressed by the federation's soldiers and the Hyperians were exiled for treasonous behavior. Several centuries later, The PGF send a small group of ships to investigate Pandora I, formerly known as Hyperia VI..._

* * *

Ezelph Lina sat on his bed in the resting quarters of the _Palladion_, an Exploration Class vessel that he was assigned to by the Pangalactic Federation in order to complete his training as a Starship Navigator or Star Navi for short. He stretches for a moment before getting out of bed and walking to the Training Deck of the the Starship and setting the machine there to spar. The machine whirs for a moment before projecting a blonde human wearing armor from a predecessor of the PGF, the SRF, and a golden ring. The projection smirks cockily upon seeing Ezelph.

"Here for the next session? I'm itching to get some exercise," states the projection as it draws an orange and silver hilt from behind its back. Ezelph draws a short sword and dons a serious expression.

"I'll beat you this time Maverick," he states as the projection activates its weapon, the Laser Weapon. Both enter fighting stances: one from the SRF era, the other from a self taught style. The projection's smirk becomes a grim line across its face.

"That's ex-Captain Edge Maverick to you," it replies as it and Ezelph circle one another. Suddenly Ezelph rushes the projection, slashing in a horizontal arc. Edge simply blocks the sword with his own and slashes downwards, striking Ezelph's torso and sending him sprawling. Ezelph gets up and rushes Edge again, this time sliding into an imbalancing strike that Edge sidesteps. Ezelph smirks as his momentum carries him forwards, then flips himself and springs at the projection before it can act, knocking it off balance.

"Told you, I'll win this time," says Ezelph as Edge picks himself up and dusts himself off. His eyes narrow as his sword glows blue and a symbol appears on his hand. He then laughs heartily.

"You've improved," he says re-entering his fighting stance, "But you've only seen the tip of the iceberg. Stampede Slash!" Ezelph's eyes widen as Edge suddenly sprints towards him at an astonishing speed and is forced back by the ferocity and sheer strength behind the projection's blows, particularly its final blow that breaks through his guard. The projection follows this with an attack called Aura Spark, a series of large, golden, crescent shaped, waves of energy that send Ezelph into a wall. Ezelph curses as he avoids another Aura Spark. _You mean he was never going all out before!? Was this guy a monster while he was alive?_ Ezelph attempts to route Edge, but has no luck when Edge casts Firebolt, an old art from the branch of magic called Symbology, and scorches him. Before he can recover, Ezelph is subjected to a fierce combination of the attacks Rising Blade, which launches him upwards after a series of criscrossing slashes culminating in an uppercut, and Mystic Cross, which propels him much further into the air and into a wall with a rising, spiraling, slash followed by a vicious kick.

"My turn," shouts Ezelph after recovering from the jarring effect of the projections attacks. He sprints towards Edge, but misses when Edge sidesteps once again. Foreseeing this, Ezelph continues his sprint towards a wall, which he partially scales before launching himself towards Edge and spinning like a tornado. Edge, though briefly surprised by Ezelph's tactic, casts something on himself and proceeds to use Stampede Slash to counter his trainee's attack. Both collide and repel each other, Ezelph being knocked backwards and Edge being sent off balance for a moment.

"You really have improved," says Edge, clapping at Ezelph's skill, "Why don't we end this now, with our strongest attacks!" Ezelph, after pulling himself off of the ground, nods. "Then you go first, show me what you can do." Ezelph nods once more before lifting his sword above his head and shifting his weight onto his back leg. _I'll put everything I've got into this!_ Brilliant light begins wrapping around his weapon as he moves his sword to a reverse grip and equalizes his weight. He then seemingly teleports, confusing Edge.

"Shining Blade," Ezelph yells before appearing directly in front of Edge, surprising him, and slashing him repeatedly with a blade extended by light. He prepares to end his assault with a thrust, but is blocked by Edge's Laser Weapon and jumps away before Edge retaliates. Edge begins to huff and pant, which causes Ezelph to grin. _I finally beat him! It took two years, but-_

"Ex Healing," says Edge, recovering from all damage he took and wiping off Ezelph's grin. "I'll admit, that last one was pretty good. Now I'll show you my full power." Edge begins to float and glow with white light. A white sword forms in his free hand and the symbol on his hand begins to glow brightly. Ezelph quickly attempts to block the attack about to come, but he realizes that he has made a grave mistake when Edge appears five feet away from him with both swords ready.

"Scintillant Stream," Edge states calmly before commencing a flurry of extremely fast, accurate and powerful slashes and thrusts with his dual blades, ripping through Ezelph's defenses and subjecting him to enough pain to make him black out. Edge's light sword fades and he chuckles.

"He's gotten better," he says, "That last attack really did a number on me... Maybe I should wake him up before Reimi finds out."

"Before Reimi finds out about what," asks a serious woman, appearing behind Edge, who squeals in fright. He turns and sees a woman of Japanese descent with brown hair and eyes. She is wearing standard SRF Armor like Edge, but wields a bow instead of a sword and has on a wedding ring similar to Edge's.

"R-reimi," stammers Edge as his wife peers at him with an appraising gaze, "I-i thought you would be training Reyna. I just finished sparring with Ezelph... He went to sleep because he got tired." Reimi arches an eyebrow and looks at Edge with a calm, but stern expression.

"Really? You didn't use Scintillant Stream and knock him into a pain induced slumber," she asks in a way that makes Edge's blood run cold. Reimi always had that effect on him when she knew he had done something and was trying to cover it up.

"Anyways, how'd Reyna do," asks Edge attempting to change the subject, "Ezelph has improved a lot, he even has a signature move called Shining Blade. If he's improved this much, I could only imagine how much-"

"Answer. The. Damn. Question. Edge," commands Reimi, "You would want a repeat of of the incident on the _Calnus_, would you?" Edge breaks into a cold sweat at Reimi's deadly tone of voice and the memories of the incident, one which had nearly lost him something important to his well being. He gulps and slowly answers yes before immediately jumping away from Reimi as several lightning bolts strike around his previous position. He immediately bursts into a sprint as Reimi draws her bow and begins firing arrows as she pursues him.

Around this time, Ezelph begins to stir and Reyna, his oldest and best friend, staggers into the room, clutching his chest and gasping. Ezelph himself feels sore all over from Edge's last attack and has trouble standing. _Damn, that hurt a lot! I'd probably be dead if Edge had been a real enemy._

"Rough training day," wheezes Reyna and Ezelph nods.

"Edge went all out on me and tore me to pieces," he responds shakily, "What about Reimi?"

"I managed to match her Crimson Squall with Empyrean Lotus and block her Chaotic Blossoms once, but when I tried countering with Jet Bolt she suddenly appeared behind me and hit me with Chaotic Blossoms and Seraphic Thunder. Getting struck by lightning hurts like hell," Reyna manages, "How do they even do that? One moment, they're a target for an attack and in the next, they're behind you and their attacks hurt a helluva lot more! How the hell is that fair in a sparring match!?"

"It's better than getting pulverized by Special Arts and Symbology," mutters Ezelph, catching Reyna's attention.

"Edge can use Symbology? That must suck," responds Reyna, now able to breathe and speak properly. Ezelph nods once again. "By the way, what did Edge do to you to knock you out like that? It must've been pretty fucking bad to knock you of all people down." Ezelph growls at Reyna's choice of words, but tells him about his sparring match nonetheless. Reyna winces at the mention of Edge's last two actions and slowly nods in understanding.

"Damn, that was a dick move to pull," he says after a moment, earning glare from Ezelph, "What? It's true. He healed himself, _then_ beat the shit out of you with two swords after revealing that he was never going all out out against you. At least Reimi told me that she would hold back until I proved that I could stand more than her basic attacks." Ezelph sighs in annoyance at his friend's swearing, but proceeds to ask him about what his sparring match was like and cringes at the brutality of Reimi's attacks. _For once, I'm happy that Edge is training me instead of Reimi_.

"-And although I usually enjoy being that close to a woman's legs, she made me fear getting within range of her physical attacks. I could only imagine what Edge has to deal with," concludes Reyna, sighing. _Damn, I wish I had gotten Edge, Meracle and Faize as trainers like Ezelph did. I'm stuck with the brutal, but hot, archer, the brutal, but hot, Symbologist and Death, the chick magnet, himself. I could only imagine what happens to Ezelph each day, but its probably better than getting beaten to a pulp twice, set on fire repeatedly, then ground into dust._

"Reyna, its almost time for our second sessions to begin. I think its Symbology next," Ezelph says and notices his friend pale considerably, "You alright? You look like you saw a ghost." Reyna couldn't answer his friend. There was only one person he feared more than Death himself and Reimi: Lymle Lemuri Phi, his Symbology instructor. It wasn't because of her looks, he thought that she was the most beautiful woman on the ship, but her training that made Arumat and Reimi look like loving and caring people when they trained others, which they were not.

"G-go on ahead of me, I have to pray for my lif- I mean adjust my bow," stammers Reyna, confusing Ezelph who shrugs walks to his next training room where an Eldarian with long green hair and regal armor with a beautify black cloak awaits him.

"Ah, you're here," says the Eldarian, standing up and greeting Ezelph, "Are you ready to continue your instruction in the ways of Symbology?" Ezelph nods and enters a meditative position as the Eldarian draws a large symbol in the air.

* * *

"Miss Phi, please be a little lenient," pleads Reyna as his instructor, a woman, around the age of twenty, with long, hazel, hair and matching eyes wearing a seemingly casual outfit and holding an ancient staff, walks into his second training room. He could feel himself swoon after her like many of the women on board the _Palladion _did for him, but he was constantly reminded by the void in her eyes that she didn't care if he or the majority of the _Palladion's_ crew were harmed while she was busy.

"Lenience is for the weak, like Faize," Lymle says emotionlessly. Reyna always wondered why his Symbology instructor hated Faize: he was a good guy despite his past actions that nearly destroyed the universe. He prepared to say something when he saw the volley of fireballs aimed at him. Reacting quickly, Reyna manages to avoid the torrent of fireballs, but froze when he saw Lymle holding a giant, blue, ball of energy.

"Miss Phi, y-you wouldn't throw that w-would you," he partially asks, mostly hopes. Lymle only smiles, showing a bit more of her beauty and answering Reyna's question. _Oh shit, she would!_ He quickly begins saying thing to deter Lymle's attack, mentioning his opinion of her beauty in the process.

"Thank you," she says accepting the compliment, which causes Reyna to sigh in relief before noticing that the ball of energy flying directly at him. _Dick freaking move-_

The ball of energy explodes brilliantly, nearly frying Reyna in the process. He lies there unmoving until Lymle speaks.

"You have five seconds before I summon Cerberus and cast Volcanic Burst to make you get up," she intones quietly, but her words are swiftly heeded by the burnt Reyna, who forces himself to stand and try to cast a symbol to help him out. He begins to feel warming energy pump through his burning body, oddly not worsening his condition. A complex symbol appears in front of him and he begins to chant the symbol's phrases until its name reaches his lips.

"Healing," he shouts and feels the warming energy intensify, but does not feel better. Rather, the spell targets Lymle and bathes her in healing light.

"Healing... That's a start, but you need to work on selecting your target," his instructor says seemingly satisfied. Then she summons another blue sphere. "Try again." She flicks the sphere at Reyna, who is unable to avoid the attack. He tenses up as the sphere engulfs him and explodes.

* * *

Faize sneezes in the middle of a concentration exercise, breaking Ezelph's concentration.

"I apologize. I think Lymle recently bad mouthed me," he says with an exasperated tone.

"Miss Lym," asks Ezelph, "You know her?"

"Yes, we have a... strained relationship," Faize says after a while, "Why don't we take a break? Do you want to know more about our shared history?" Ezelph nods and Faize talks about meeting Lymle on Lemuris millennia ago and their adventure with Edge and the others. He continues on, explaining his eventual corruption because of his morals, leading to his defeat and supposed death. He then talks about returning and meeting Lymle again after many years and their relationship after that, which led to their appearance in the distant future.

"I see," responds Ezelph after hearing Faize's story, "So basically, you love each other and are married, but your personalities collide to the point of the two of only having discussions in your private quarters... I won't comment on that part, but maybe the two of you should come to a compromise?" Faize chuckles.

"If only it were that simple," he says, "I wouldn't have her any other way and her, me. I think one day we'll be able to embrace each other, but- I just realized that Lymle trains Reyna. That could end badly."

"What are talking about, there's no way she would-," Ezelph stops when he sees the grave look on Faize's face and feels the training room shake, "You may be right, let's investigate." Faize nods and the two quickly reach Lymle and Reyna's training room, which is scorched.

"No, no, again," Lymle says as another healing symbol hits her. She prepares another blue sphere, but disperses it when she sees Faize. "Weakling, why are you here? I told you never to visit me before eleven at night."

"I know, but I needed to check on Reyna," Faize says, holding his ground.

"Oh, he's fine," Lymle says pointing at the semi smoldering, but standing, Reyna, who Ezelph quickly rushes to and checks for a pulse. "I moderated my power, so none of my attacks can kill him. He will be quite sore and sun burned tomorrow though." Reyna manages to give a weak thumbs up before fainting and getting carried to the medical bay by Ezelph.

"Lymle, you have to limit yourself more," begins Faize, but he is countered by Lymle and the two begin to argue over the way to teach and nurture young Symbologists. Ezelph sighs. _They can sort it out themselves. I don't have time to deal with that._

* * *

A/N: And that's the first chapter of my Star Ocean story(which I hope interested you enough to review, positively or negatively, and wait for the second chapter, in which a few major events start.). There are probably a lot of confusing points, but those'll be addressed in future chapters. That being said, this will update less frequently than P3: R, which has a poll going on about pairings at the moment, will overall, but it should update fairly consistently.

Misc.: If you've played Star Ocean: The Last Hope, you'll probably notice a few points of confusion early on, such as the Main Characters from the first Star Ocean chronologically. That will be explained in due time as mentioned above. As for their personalities(And Abilities in Edge's case) being different from what you may remember, its for both light comic relief and to show that the cast has changed and matured over the years(These versions being around eight years older than their original counterparts.), but have retained some of their original personality from the game. Out of all of the characters mentioned, Lymle has changed the most, mentally and physically. She is not as uncaring and cruel as she is portrayed in this chapter, but that'll be explored later.

As for the two new characters mentioned in this chapter: How are they so far? What do you like and/or dislike about them? Can you make any assumptions about their roles in the future?

Stat wise, Reyna is in the lead, because of his much tougher training, and knows four special arts(Jet Bolt, Angelic Flare, Zakura Breaker and Empyrean Lotus) and one Symbol(Healing), while Ezelph knows three arts(Speed Edge, Spiraling Thunder and Shining Blade). This will change over time of course, but not until after the third party member joins the team.

-Azure Blade of Chaos


	2. Pandora I

**Two: Pandora I**

* * *

Ezelph finished plotting the course to Pandora I. He had expected the route to be treacherous and filled with obstacles like asteroid belts and planetoids with high gravitational pulls. Instead, the only real difficulty was locating the actual planet inside of a cloud of cosmic dust and that took him roughly an hour. Now finished with his task, Ezelph tells the _Palladion_'s captain, Ixiel Lancaston, that he has mapped an easy and safe route to the target planet.

"Captain Lancaston, I've finished plotting the route to Pandora I," reports the trainee, "Our only challenge lies in getting the _Palladion _through an expansive cloud of cosmic dust." Ixiel Lancaston glances at her subordinate and gives a faint nod. She wasn't in an especially good mood because one of her superiors questioned her ability as a captain because of her gender. It had taken a lot of her self restraint to resist calling him a sexist buffoon for not only insulting her as a woman, but for also insulting her pride as the only female captain in the PGF and the only captain who could effectively control Lymle and Arumat for that matter.

"Thank you for your report Ezelph," says Ixiel after a moment of trying to suppress her anger, "Do you have an estimated time before we arrive?"

"Approximately forty-eight hours, ma'am," answers Ezelph quickly, "I will be going."

"Hold on for a moment Mr. Lina," commands the figure of authority, stopping Ezelph in his tracks, "Could you hear me out for a few moments?" Ezelph internally sighs. _This is going be a long day..._ He sits down and listens to his captain release her built up frustration for about twenty minutes before leaving for the ship's infirmary. _That guy was a fool. Captain L could match Arumat in combat and is basically on par with Ms. Lym when it comes to Symbology... She could probably take on Edge and win without a scratch._

Arriving at the infirmary, Ezelph finds Reyna talking to a nurse, who is blushing furiously. Ezelph clears his throat and Reyna looks up. Flashing a smile, Reyna finishes his conversation with the nurse, then lays back once she leaves.

"Still trying to woo every woman onboard," asks Ezelph with a sly grin. Reyna, however, only sighs.

"Sometimes attracting the majority of the female population with your looks and voice gets tedious," sighs Reyna, "Not many people see beyond my appearance or really ask about me."

"But if they knew the real you, they'd probably stay away from you," comments Ezelph, earning a light chuckle from his friend. Reyna pulls his best friend into a headlock and ruffles his hair, much to Ezelph's chagrin.

"Hey, watch the hair," he snaps and pushes away from his friend, who only laughs louder. Ezelph sighs to himself, but smiles faintly because of his friend's antics. _This idiot... I'd probably have a dull life without him and Edge to constantly pester me. Not that I'm complaining, he's a good guy minus the gruff diction._

"Hey Lina," says Reyna, interrupting Ezelph's inner monologue, "I heard that we're almost to Pandora I. Any idea what it'll be like?" Ezelph shakes his head, but gives him an answer anyways.

"It'll probably be like a wasteland or barren of life. Apparently that meteor killed off almost all life on the planet and created the cloud of cosmic dust that surrounds the planet moments after impact."

"Must've been one helluva meteor. It's about damn time we got close to the planet," states Reyna. He drags himself off of his bed, wincing in the process, and begins stretching. A day of rest was enough... Besides, if he took anymore time off, Ms. Phi would probably kill him with harsher training than usual.

"So, you're going to just go back to training," asks Ezelph and Reyna nods. He explains why and Ezelph sighs, but hides a smirk.

"As usual, you have Indomitable will," says Lymle appearing from around the corner, frightening Reyna in the process. He suppresses a shriek, but sees a smile dance across his instructors eyes. She hands him a compound longbow covered with Symbols and embroidered with a milky white gemstone. "Your Symbology is lacking, so Reimi, Edge and I crafted you a weapon to concentrate and direct the flow of your Symbols. Today will be self training for you to get used to your new tools."

"Tools," asks Ezelph aloud and Lymle tells him to visit Edge. He nods and visits his instructor's room, only to find a note that reads:

"**Out with Reimi. Will be back soon. Visit Faize for the tools.**

**-Edge"**

Ezelph sighs at his instructor's antics, but walks to Faize's room and finds him reading a lengthy book on the progression and regression of Symbology. Ezelph clears his throat and the Eldarian looks up from his book.

"It's good to see you Ezelph. May I assist you with anything," says Faize, beaming at the trainee. Ezelph explains Edge's note and sees his instructor grin mischievously before nodding. He hands Ezelph a pair of swords: one with a black, anchor, shaped blade that pulses with black lightning. The other sword had an olive colored blade and is equal in length to Ezelph's regular sword. It faintly glowed blue and seemed to hum with power. Ezelph stares at the weapons with awe before looking up at Faize.

"You made these," he asks, swinging each sword to test their weight, "These are amazing!"

"Edge formed the bodies with his expertise in metal work, Reimi added herbs with mystic qualities to the blades to change their properties, Lymle fused Symbology into the blades and I added a few alchemical mixtures and ores to seal the Symbology into the weapons," says the green haired Eldarian, "Might I suggest choosing which weapon you prefer and using the other as a secondary, back up, weapon?" Ezelph contemplates Faize's words and chooses the olive colored sword as his main weapon after a few moments. Faize then gives the Navigator in training a few tips on concentrating his power and Symbology into his weapon before leaving Ezelph to practice with his sword.

Several hours pass and Ezelph leaves his training room drenched with sweat, having learned how to cast Earth Glaive and Ice Needle. He heads to the ship's shower and washes away the signs of his effort before resting for the remainder of the day.

* * *

Reyna continued trying to concentrate his symbology using his new bow, which he aptly named Spell Bolt. He had finally gotten the hang of casting Healing on himself and moved onto Firebolt and a new Symbol called Wind Shear. Within hours he had mastered both of the symbols and had figured out how to infuse arrows with both, resulting in him smiling, but, at the same time, wondering why he could master said Symbols in such a short amount of time.

"It just doesn't feel right," he says looking at his lightly blistered hands after practice, "Maybe Ms. Phi did something? No, she's not a person to use shortcuts... Maybe I'm just that affinite with Symbology?" He continues pondering this as he reaches the showers and washes himself. Afterwards he decides to visit Lymle, but is called to the captain's quarters over the _Palladion'_s intercom. He adjusts his path and quickly reaches Ixiel's room. There he is asked to summarize his progress in his combat training.

"I'd say that I'm doing quite well," Reyna says trying to ignore his superior's agitated gaze, "I could probably hold my own for a while against decently trained opponents and wild beasts. Why?"

"Are you in a position to ask questions Mr. Starcroft," asks Ixiel with a steel in her voice, but softens for a moment, "I apologize, I'm still allowing myself to get riled up by Commander Enox's words. We may need you and Ezelph to explore Pandora I once we arrive." Reyna notices how Captain Lancaston uses Ezelph's first name, but ignores it.

"I understand," he states, secretly excited for this chance to test out his skills in actual combat. "Commander Enox has been being an ass again? I swear that man's never going to garner the hatred of all of the women in the PGF." Ixiel's jaw almost drops and she finds herself nodding to Reyna's words.

"Indeed he was," she says before catching herself and reprimanding Reyna, "You cannot speak of a commanding officer in such a disrespect manner... No matter how true your words are." Reyna nods, but makes a mental note to tell Enox his entire opinion about him in the future. _That asshat deserves it, he acts like he runs everything because he bought his position._

"Understood Captain," he responds before leaving the room and heading towards his original destination. Within minutes, Reyna reaches his destination, but finds that Lymle is gone and has left a note that says she is with Faize, Edge and Reimi. He sighs and, instead of resting in his quarters, he returns to his training room and continues practicing his Symbology and trying to perfect his skills until he falls due to exhaustion. He sighs, picks himself up and slowly drags himself out of the room only to see Lymle, who has an apathetic expression. Reyna tries to speak to his Symbology Instructor, but blacks out before he can finish his sentence.

A few hours later, Reyna wakes up in the _Palladion'_s medical bay, fully rested and healed of his previous conditions. He slowly rises and finds a note taped to Spell Bolt's arrow rest.

"To my idiotic student," begins Reyna, having removed the note from longbow, "Don't overexert yourself just because I let you train alone. You need to know your limits or else you will suffer dearly by your own hands. With that said, you're foolish and need to work symbol control. From Lymle Lemuri Phi." He stares at the note for a moment then chuckles. "Ms. Phi always had a way with words. He returns to his quarters and rests for a few hours before getting up.

* * *

Ixiel had gotten little sleep during the previous night. Besides checking the progress of the _Palladion_ and making sure that the majority of the crew was prepared for a potential combat situation on Pandora I. She suppresses a yawn and stretches before walking to the main deck of the spacecraft where she finds Arumat P. Thanatos and a man with a somewhat similar appearance arguing.

"I'm sure you are Death Incarnate," says the man similar to Arumat in snide manner, "And I'm the cruel face one sees before death." Arumat only scoffs at the man before brandishing his scythe.

"One should never tempt fate, it only results in a swifter end," he says with a serious expression. The other man only smirks as he adjusts the gauntlet on his left arm.

"Really? I'd say the same thing to you," says the man as he draws a katana from his side, "Let's see if you live up to your self given title." Before the two men can start their battle, Ixiel pushes both of them away from each other and glares disapprovingly at them. Arumat quickly puts away his weapon and takes an additional step back, while the other man stands his ground.

"And who are you supposed to be whitey-locks," he questions, weapons still drawn, "Don't interrupt a duel between me-" Before he can finish, Ixiel grabs the man's arm and flips him onto the floor. She then places her right knee on his throat and pins his arms.

"Don't you ever try to order around your commanding officer," she snarls and puts more pressure on the man's neck, "Is that understood?" The man manages a slight nod, gagging in the process, and Ixiel removes herself from him. She then turns to face Arumat.

"I apologize for the inappropriate conduct, captain," he says as Ixiel rises. He found his commanding officer to be quite the strong person and had respect for her strength as well as her fair judgment. Arumat blinks and for a split second notices a scar across the woman's lower torso. _A scar? I wonder how she- _Arumat is pulled out of his thoughts by Ixiel calling his name.

"Mister Thanatos, please stop staring at me in a daze and escort mister Nox to the briefing room," she states, "I have to make an announcement to ma-" Before Ixiel could finish her sentence the entire ship shook violently and flung her into a wall along with the others.

"What in the world," she begins as she rises to her feet, only to collapse from a sudden jarring impact to her side. She grits her teeth before emitting a red aura that repels the object that crashed into her. Ixiel then rises and hobbles to the bridge where she finds an injured Ezelph and Edge.

"Captain," Ezelph says weakly as he is helped to his feet by Edge, "I didn't recognize the potential of the debris cloud surrounding Pandora I having a strong magnetic field. The _Palladion _is being pulled towards the planet at an increasing speed." Ixiel didn't hear the rest of her navigator's report as she registered two things: The _Palladion _was going to crash and she needed to take emergency actions immediately to save as many lives as possible.

"Maverick, Lina, I need you to call all of the able bodied crew members you know to the bridge. I have a plan that should reduce the number of casualties we face on impact."

* * *

The _Palladion _hit the face of Pandora I with a sickening crunch. Both of the wings tore away from the vessel as it skidded across the planet's uneven surface and broke through a shallow cliff. It turned over a few times as it continued to break through a series of naturally formed tunnels. When the _Palladion_ finally stopped, only the spacecraft's helm and bridge remained intact. albeit barely. The rest of the vessel had been torn asunder as it was force across the surface of the planet.

There were no signs of life inside the vessel until a group of ten hobbled out of the ship's mangled corpse.

* * *

_**A few miles away from the crash site:**_

_A creature stirred from its deep slumber. It removed its blade-like right pincer from the ground and pulled its shield-like claw away from its side. The creature rose, one leg at a time, and uncurled its barbed tail. It slowly lifted its head and notice a deformity on its side: a green sphere was lodged into its plated flesh. The creature's beady red eyes narrowed, but it chose to ignore the blemish on its once unmarred hide. It looked towards the sky and a saw a the remains of a spacecraft a few miles away. The creature cooed in anticipation at the prospect of potential prey and slowly stalked towards the crash site._

* * *

A/N: And that ends chapter two of Star Ocean: The Fifth Act. This chapter took a short while to make, but a long time to release because I temporarily lost access to my laptop, which now must be repaired because the screen broke(This chapter is being posted via a friend's computer). Anyways I sincerely thank everyone who read this chapter and the previous one along with everyone who reviewed, you guys and/or gals are great.

Next chapter will the last chapter to introduce characters for a while and will be a "boss fight" chapter. Next chapter may also come early if I'm lucky enough to finish the next chapter of P3:R by next Sunday.

Misc: Sadly no character/plot debriefing this chapter, my allergies are bothering me and I'm a bit burned out from all of the idiotic things that have happened to me in the past few weeks.


End file.
